In Lauren Fensterstock’s installation work, oceans of black grass flow from room to room and ebony flowers thrive in an unnatural lushness. The artist uses jet-black paper to create dark and expansive site-specific landscapes, thick with flowers, reeds, tendrils, and vines. By doing so, she adds an artificiality to the seemingly natural environment.
Fensterdstock challenges the norm in her work. Flowers are expected to be bright and colorful, but the mounds of heavily textured flora are disturbingly monochromatic. While the unusual pallor of the flowers might seem to indicate they are burnt or dead, they actually appear to be flourishing in the barren topography. This unexpected vitality seems somewhat post-apocalyptic and the obsidian scenery becomes darkly poetic.
